


In Cash

by chimaeracabra



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love, ProtectiveBucky, Robbery, dadbucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 10:08:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23849446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimaeracabra/pseuds/chimaeracabra
Summary: The day after payday, Bucky takes his family to the bank, where they receive a scary unexpected surprise.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, bucky barnes/original female character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	In Cash

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Secrets Aren't for Keeping](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2799851) by [chimaeracabra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimaeracabra/pseuds/chimaeracabra). 



> Random story that was buzzing around in my head all week.

Christina Barnes skips excitedly into the bank, clutching the metal of her father’s bionic hand in her right, and her mother’s flesh hand in her left. She likes going to the bank simply for those round, colorful lollipops she always gets to have two or three of whenever one of her parents takes her in with them.

“Daddy, I want the lellow lolly,” Christina says, tugging on Bucky’s hand and looking up at him. His expression brightens instantaneously and he leads her in front of him in the line, between himself and Cherise. It’s a Saturday, the day after Bucky’s bi-weekly paycheck, and he wants to make a deposit into their daughter’s college fund account, something that Steve and Natasha had started up for Christina shortly after the girl was born.

“What color lollipop, Stina?” Bucky asks, grinning down at her.

“Lellow lollipop,” she says again. He giggles.

“You mean _yellow_?” he asks.

Christina nods.

“You can have three yellow suckers if you want, baby,” Bucky says reassuringly, dusting Christina’s wavy brown hair over her shoulders. She smiles up at him before hugging his leg, causing Bucky to laugh.

“Mumma—daddy said _three_ ,” she says, pulling Cherise’s pant leg, “ _Three_!”

“Okay, baby— _shhh_ , inside voice now,” Cherise explains, tucking her phone back into her pocket to grin down at her daughter. Cherise is showing now, tugging at her shirt. She sighs, having just answered Natasha’s text message about some new maternity clothes boutique that she ought to check out.

“Three,” Christina whispers, pointing with three of her little fingers.

“Mumma…?”

Cherise is distracted again with her phone for a moment, until she can feel the sensation of Christina’s knees beginning to mount her back as Bucky holds the girl up. Cherise turns to face their daughter in line, Bucky smooching away at her head.

“Yes, baby?” Cherise asks, giving Christina her full attention now.

“Can I—can—can I—stop it, daddy!” Christina whines, pulling her cheek away from his lips. Bucky laughs, holding her straight in his arms so that she’s at Cherise’s height.

“Can’t daddy get a kiss?” Bucky asks. Christina sighs, allowing him to kiss her cheek once more.

“Can I have—take home _six_ lollies, so I can save some for my brother?” she asks, smiling wide. Cherise already knows that this is a ploy to try and get more candy, and she holds back a laugh.

“I don’t think so, peanut. That’s really sweet of you. But your little brother’s not going to be able to eat candy for a few years after he’s born. There will still be _plenty_ of pops in the future,” Bucky explains. Christina frowns, sighing and letting her head fall back against Bucky’s chest. He holds her like she’s a baby, which causes her to whine in frustration.

“Just _three_ ,” Cherise says with finality, “And that’s it. You didn’t even finish your peanut butter sandwich or your eggs for breakfast today—” Christina starts to grumble, “You’re not going to fill up on candy. Candy isn’t a meal, Stina.”

Christina complains and Bucky shushes her, again reminding her to use her indoor voice. He allows her to stand. She stomps her small feet, glaring up at Bucky, who kneels to her height in the line.

“If you don’t stop that, you’re only getting _one_ pop today,” he warns calmly. Christina shakes her head fervently and closes her little mouth, stopping the stomping. She grips Bucky’s bionic hand in anticipation. The family are just a few people away from the teller when there is a loud smashing noise, which causes several people to gasp. It’s less than a second before Bucky reacts physically. Even after all the brainwashing and recovery, he could never have mistaken the sound of a bullet shattering glass. By the time he sees the fallen guard, his body has already reacted by grabbing his six-year-old clear off the floor and pulling her, along with his wife, beneath a counter around the corner from the line they were waiting in, which is already scattering of frightened people. Bucky hides his family out of sight before they can even fully register what is going on. Christina is crying and Cherise immediately pulls the girl against her beneath the counter, forcing her to sit on her bottom, Bucky blocking the two of them from seeing beyond where they’re hiding.

“Shhhh,” he hushes, Cherise’s hand already covering the child’s mouth. The girl is confused and frustrated, still reeling from being yanked up out of the blue. Bucky isn’t sure when exactly he grabbed it, but he produces a lollipop from his pocket and hands it to Christina. She stops crying immediately as Cherise tears it open. Bucky stealthily starts to look over the top of the counter.

“ _James—don’t_ ,” Cherise begs furiously, as quietly as she can. She starts to panic, her fist full of the chest of Bucky’s shirt. He slips down under the counter with them, unraveling Cherise’s hand from his clothing. The toothless smile on his face doesn’t calm her any better, and he quietly passes a hand through her hair. These guys are already screaming at the teller to show them to the vault, before somebody gets hurt.

“It’s gonna be okay, babe,” Bucky whispers.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Cherise pleads, her eyes watering now.

“ _Do not come out_ ,” he whispers with finality, looking her directly in the eyes for several seconds before whisking away from Cherise’s grasping hand.

“I wanted yellow,” Christina says. Cherise shushes her and guides the lollipop back into the girl’s mouth. Cherise covers her daughter’s ears to try and shield them from the noise of guns firing. And she keeps Christina pressed firmly against the counter, sheltering her with her whole body, scared out of her mind, and wondering whether Bucky’s dodging bullets or if perhaps he already claimed one of the weapons. There’s a scream, but it’s not Bucky’s, and suddenly it’s quiet. But Cherise dares not leave their hiding place. Christina is struggling to get free, not wanting to be squashed where she is and crying quietly.

“I’m scared, mommy,” she whines, having dropped the lollipop on the floor. Cherise knows there’s only so much she could have done to stop the girl from hearing the commotion. She tries to comfort her while still shielding her, keeping her eyes closed.

“It’s okay—shh, shhh.”

Cherise listens to the sound of a gun completely unloading and another yell that doesn’t belong to Bucky, people screaming in the bank. And then silence. She opens her eyes where she’s hiding, clutching her daughter for dear life. The child is crying quietly, gripping Cherise’s forearm. Panic does not leave Cherise’s chest as she listens, hoping to hear her husband, wanting to call his name, but at the same time, knowing she shouldn’t even flinch. And she hears sirens, people talking in whispered panic, asking each other who that man is. Cherise calms down a little bit, knowing they’re referring to Bucky. That he’s probably okay.

“You don’t have to do this,” Bucky says calmly.

“Come any closer, and I’ll fuckin’ shoot!”

“Look—the police are on their way, man—”

“Shut the fuck up! _You shot my brother, asshole_!”

“And he shot the guard!” Bucky retorts.

“I said, ‘come any fuckin’ closer, and I’ll fuckin’ shoot’!”

A woman is whimpering this whole time, begging for her life, and Cherise wonders if it’s the teller they nearly reached when the shooting started.

“There’s still a chance for your brother, okay? I didn’t kill him…just let her go…”

The sirens get louder, and Cherise realizes that soon, Bucky will have back up. She shushes Christina, rocking her comfortingly as best she can.

“ _Fuck_!” the stranger yells, causing his hostage to cry.

“ _Put it down_. Just put it down, man,” Bucky breathes.

And then suddenly, there’s a shot and people scream. The woman who had been begging for her life is screaming bloody murder. Cherise assumes that the woman must have been injured. The police are outside the building now, and the next thing Cherise knows, someone is yelling at Bucky to get on the ground. A number of the bank’s hostages are begging them not to shoot him, telling them that he saved them. Cherise doesn’t move from where she’s hidden, however, unsure as to whether any guns are still drawn. She can hear Bucky explaining what happened and what he did. Things begin to calm down and Cherise takes a deep breath. Christina is crying loud enough now that she can be heard.

“It’s okay, peanut. You’re okay.”

Cherise doesn’t even hear Bucky explaining to the authorities that they were hiding. Someone tugs her shoulder and she gasps, turning around to find a police officer offering her hand to help her up. Bucky is behind her, totally unscathed, eagerly waiting to clutch them in his arms.

“Daddy,” Christina cries. He bounces her in his flesh arm, wrapping the metal one around Cherise and pressing his lips to her temple with relief.

“It’s okay,” he reassures them. There isn’t so much as a scratch on his face as he looks the two of them over desperately, asking whether they’re hurt. Speechless, all Cherise can do is shake her head for no. But Christina is clearly traumatized at this point, clutching her father tightly. Bucky glares over at one of the bank’s robbers, who he’d shot in the leg, being carried out of the bank on a stretcher. Bucky leads Cherise past the scene, telling Christina to close her eyes. The girl stuffs her face into Bucky’s neck, eyes pinched closed, whimpering.

“Don’t look, babe,” he says, trying to direct Cherise bodily away from it, but she finds herself looking at a very bloody area on the floor. One of the robbers had removed his ski mask and shot himself in the head. What’s left of it is scattered across the marble floor. Just outside is the teller the dead man had held at gun point, blood spattered on her pink blouse as she hysterically recounts the events to the police, who have strewn a blanket over her shoulders. Cherise finds herself violently nauseous. The fresh air is inviting in her lungs as she tears away from Bucky to vomit into the bushes. She feels his bionic hand rubbing her lower back comfortingly.

“I told you not to look, baby,” he says quietly, “You didn’t need to see that.”

Cherise groans.

“I just need some space for a second,” she mumbles. Bucky backs away. Cherise tries to wipe the image from her mind, reaching into her purse for a tissue to clean her mouth. She turns around to find Bucky swaying Christina in his arms comfortingly. The child is not crying anymore. She’s staring into space with a lollipop in her mouth, clutching a handful more. Most of them are yellow. Cherise starts to realize that if Bucky had just let her take his check to the bank, like was originally planned, had he stayed at home and let them go run errands alone, they probably wouldn’t be there right now.

Bucky’s eyes are frantic, plastered to the scene, yet looking everywhere, as if he’s waiting for another armed robber to pop out. She can tell without feeling his pulse that his heart rate is up. He turns around, scanning the landscape. When someone walks up out of what seems to be thin air and places a hand on his back, he whips around, eyes wide, prepared to jump into action, but he relaxes immediately when one of the officers tells him they need to ask him a few questions about what went down in the bank. Bucky’s gaze lands on Cherise immediately and he nods. 

“Can you just let me make sure my family gets out of here first?” he asks, but it’s really more of a statement than a question. The police officer smiles at Christina, who turns her head away, resting it on Bucky’s shoulder, continuing to suck on her lollipop.

“My daughter is pretty upset,” he admits, eying Cherise with worry.

She can tell from the way his eyes dart back and forth again that he isn’t convinced the scene is safe.

“Of course, sir.”

Bucky reaches for Cherise’s hand and she approaches him to take it. The officer follows them to their CR-V, where Bucky is telling Cherise to take Christina straight home immediately, that he will catch an Uber and meet them there as soon as possible, but the moment he tries to secure their daughter in her booster seat, she starts crying, reaching for Bucky to hold her. It breaks his and Cherise’s collective heart to see Christina so upset. He picks her up again and she clutches him, crying into his chest. He looks at the police officer apologetically, about to say something, when Cherise takes the child from him and makes herself comfortable in the back seat with her. Bucky pushes a hand through Christina’s hair and his metallic hand rests on Cherise’s knee as he leans in through the car door.

“She doesn’t want you to go,” Cherise explains, quietly. They’re not used to Christina not using her words at this age, but they both know she’s upset.

“Okay. Just let me talk to the officer really quickly, then we can leave. I won’t let you two out of my sight,” Bucky promises, kissing Cherise’s temple before turning around to face the officer. He closes the car door halfway simultaneously, and Christina lifts her head off of Cherise’s shoulder.

“Daddy?!” she calls, her small hand making contact with the window. Unable to ignore the distress in his daughter’s voice, Bucky turns around and opens the door again.

“Shhh. I’m not going anywhere, sweetie. I’ll be right here—I promise. Just try to relax,” he says, smiling at her. Christina had dropped some of her lollipops. Bucky picks one up off the floor of the car and opens it.

“What color is that?” he asks her sweetly. Christina wipes her eyes, sniffling.

“Lellow.”

Bucky laughs.

“ _Yellow_. It’s yellow, Stina baby.”

“ _Yellow_ ,” she says, causing Bucky to smile genuinely.

“Daddy’s going to be right here. Okay? You’ll be able to see me through the window,” he explains. She takes the sucker from him and places it in her mouth.

“Promise?” she asks, her voice muffled.

“Absolutely. Stay with mommy, okay?”

Christina nods. She keeps her eyes fixed on Bucky, sucking her lollipop. Bucky and the officer had moved away from the car a little bit farther. She can’t see his face, but she finally relaxes, letting her head fall on Cherise’s shoulder.

“It was _too loud_ ,” she finally says, sounding drained.

“I know, honey. But we’re safe now. _You’re safe_. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

Cherise continuously passes her hands down Christina’s back comfortingly.

“What about daddy?” Christina asks, playing with the sleeve of Cherise’s shirt. Cherise’s eyes water, and she’s glad her daughter doesn’t see her wipe away a tear. She keeps her voice stable, but she realizes that she could have lost him in there. _They_ could have lost him. He just had to be a hero. But she knew it was the only option he had. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to them.

“He’s fine. He will _never_ leave us. Your daddy will _always_ keep us safe, peanut…you hear me?”

Christina nods. And suddenly Cherise is filled with rage. This should have been a happy, normal Saturday afternoon for her family. Christina had already had a stressful week in school, struggling with her reading, and then this? In the darkest part of her heart, Cherise is happy that the bastard shot himself instead of surrender to the authorities. He and his accomplice _killed_ an innocent man, terrorized innocent people, traumatized her daughter, and shot at her husband. They probably injured far more, but Bucky didn’t let Cherise or their child stay in the building long enough to see all of the damage.

Time passes, more than she wanted it to, and Cherise finds her phone is buzzing in her purse. Christina shifts, moving to sit straight in her lap. She breathes upon the window heavily before beginning to draw something there. Steve’s name shows up on the caller ID and her heart warms as she answers the phone.

“Hello?”

“My god—are you guys alright?” Steve asks desperately. Natasha must have told him that they were going to the bank today to add to the account she and Steve had created for Christina’s college fund.

“All over the news—the robbery. I saw your car and I—”

“We’re okay, Steve. We weren’t hurt,” Cherise sighs, letting her head fall back in the seat. Steve sighs in relief. Natasha’s voice can be heard in the background, and before Steve can utter another word, Natasha grabs the phone from him.

“Is Christina with you guys?”

“Yeah. She’s right here,” Cherise explains, opening her eyes and finding that Christina is drawing a family portrait on the window. She smiles.

“She’s safe. But she got really scared. We both did.”

“Have you left yet?”

“No. James is talking to the police. He was just… _so_ fast, I couldn’t…I mean, he handled the _whole_ thing before the police arrived on the scene,” Cherise explains, still finding herself in a strange sort of wonder. Bucky acted immediately. He seemed to know just how to handle any sudden situation.

“We’re just glad you guys are okay,” Steve explains. His voice relaxes her significantly.

“Yeah. Me too. It was pretty scary. Didn’t expect it. I’m waiting for this officer to let James go so we can go home. We just want to get Stina out of here.”

“I don’t blame you, Reese.”

“Hmmm. It got on the news that quickly?” Cherise asks, cocking a brow and sitting up straighter in the seat to find that one of the local news stations has a van parked out front near the bank.

“Bucky’s trending on Twitter as we speak,” Natasha says, stealing the phone from Steve again, “Some very clear hostage photos are going around, if you take a look.”

Cherise shakes her head in disbelief, but believes it.

“That’s crazy. That’s social media for you. You would _think_ that at the time, most the people in there were more concerned with fearing for their lives as opposed to snapping photos for a tweet.” Cherise rolls her eyes, but deep down, she knows that her husband is a hero. And although his immediate reaction to intervene scared the shit out of her, she’s proud of him. More people could have died.

“It’s, uh, hashtag ‘metal arm hero’ right now, going viral at the moment,” Natasha chimes. Cherise smiles. Steve resumes the conversation.

“Please, let us know if you need anything. If Christina needs anything. We were getting ready to go to the store when this came up, and we just needed to know that you guys were okay.” 

“Actually, James and I were going to the store after the bank, but it looks like that’s not going to happen now—”

“Send us your list. We’ll bring things over when you guys are home,” Steve interrupts. She sighs.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing, Reese. Let us know when you’re home.”

“Thank you,” she says again, meaning it, hanging up.

“Mumma, look,” Christina says, pointing at the window and blowing air on it again. Cherise looks clear through it to find that the officer is handing what appears to be a business card to Bucky. Christina taps the window, drawing Cherise’s attention to her little portrait. Cherise laughs at the stick figures. The one that represents her is abnormally round in the middle, and Cherise knows that Christina was just trying to include her little brother. She had also drawn the stick figure that represents Bucky with very large arms, and he’s taller than the two of them, smiles on all of their faces. There are hearts around all of their heads.

“Is that you, me, daddy, and your brother?”

Christina nods. Bucky is finally turning around, the conversation with the police officer having come to a close. Bucky wipes the worry off his face immediately, pulling the door open to be met by his daughter’s hugging arms.

“You could see me the whole time, couldn’t you?” he asks, pulling Christina out of the car.

“Yes,” she says, pressing a hand to his clefted chin and rubbing the stubble.

“I’m hungry,” she adds, biting the last bit of yellow candy off the white stick she’s holding. Both Cherise and Bucky are happy to see that she has finally calmed down.

“Well, I think there will be lunch waiting for us at home, baby,” Cherise explains, “Uncle Steve and auntie Nat are on their way to the store for us right now.”

“I want chicken nuggets,” Christina explains.

“You can have that, sweetie. I’ll add it to the list for your auntie and uncle to pick up.”

“Come on, girls. Let’s go home,” Bucky sighs, holding his most precious things in his arms a long, relieved moment.


End file.
